Acts 5:12-42

Acts 5:12-42

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👁️ God's vision is for every person, every people, and every place to hear about Jesus.

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Review

Underground church's observations of Acts 1-5:42:

• N1: "You either believe in Jesus or you don't. There is no middle ground. You either have Him or you don't."

• A: "We have to apply this to our own lives. We cannot con God. We need to dedicate everything to Him."

• S: "Christ is about love. Love is the sign/mark of being a Christian. Like a king would seal his legal documents with his signet ring to confirm its authenticity, Jesus marks His people with a seal of love. Love confirms their authenticity of belonging to Him."

• N2: "Jesus commands us to love our neighbor. If a neighbor is a believer, we share life with them. Believer is living and sharing everything we have together (Acts 2, 5)."

• M: "Our work reminds me of when church was forming. They emotionally and financially supported each other."

• R: "Jesus's mission was to teach His disciples to make disciples to build His Kingdom. Now we are His disciples".

• J: "We can see that the church and the Kingdom has grown significantly since Jesus and the early church."

• M: "Statistics say that Christianity is the largest religion in the world."

Introduction

When Jesus met with His disciples after His resurrection in Luke 24:49, He instructed them to live in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came and empowered them.

In the passage that we are reading today, we'll see that even though they had been empowered by the Holy Spirit, they were still living in Jerusalem.

It isn't until chapter 8 when Saul and the Jews begin persecuting the church that the disciples leave Jerusalem and are scattered to different places. 

The scattering of the disciples is how the gospel spread, the church grew and God's kingdom began to overtake the world. This is also how these things happen today.

The apostles and probably their disciples met at a part of the temple in Jerusalem called Solomon's Collonade.

God performed many signs and wonders through the apostles, such as healing people, casting out demons, and giving sight to the blind.

The people who witnessed these things highly esteemed them, and believers were increasingly added to the Lord.

Because of the miracles that God was performing through the apostles, and because of events such as Ananias and Sapphira that we studied last time, many of the people in and around Jerusalem feared God, which caused them to have deep reverence and respect for Him and the apostles, and caused them to believe in Jesus.

Now the Jewish high priest and the members of the Saducees were jealous, so they had the apostles arrested and imprisoned. 

But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the door of their jail cell and brought them out.

He instructed them to go stand in the temple courts and "speak to the people all the words of this life" (verse 20).

They went to the temple courts and started teaching the people, just as the Lord instructed them.

When the high priest and his associates realized that the apostles were not in the jail cell, and that the door was locked and secured with prison guards, they were puzzled and wondered what the outcome would be.

Then someone came and reported that the apostles were in the temple courts teaching the people.

The temple guards went and bought them before the Sanhedrin to question them.

They said, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!” (verse 28).

But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him" (verse 5:29‭-‬32).

When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to kill them.

However, a Pharisee named Gamaliel warned them to leave the apostles alone and to let them go because if the apostles' purpose for teaching about Jesus is of men, it will fail, but if it's from God, they will not be able to stop them because they will be fighting against God.

Gamaliel's speech persuaded the Sanhedrin, but before letting them go, they had the apostles flogged and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus.

However, the apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering shame for Jesus. 

Day after day they continued going to the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.

I'm going to read the lyrics of a hymn that reminds me of the apostles' lives and their faithfulness and devotion to obey God rather than men:

Wherever He Leads I'll Go

"Take up thy cross and follow me",

I heard my Master say

"I gave my life to ransom thee

Surrender your all today"

Wherever He leads, I'll go

Wherever He leads, I'll go

I'll follow my Christ who loves me so

Wherever He leads, I'll go

He drew me closer to His side

I sought His will to know

And in that will, I now abide

Wherever He leads, I'll go

Wherever He leads, I'll go

Wherever He leads, I'll go

I'll follow my Christ who loves me so

Wherever He leads, I'll go

Wherever He leads, I'll go

Wherever He leads, I'll go

I'll follow my Christ who loves me so

Wherever He leads, I'll go

Wherever He leads, I'll go

📕 Acts 5:12-42

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• R: "Obey God more than man."

• M: "Verse 31 is interesting, it says a lot about God and Jesus."

"Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins."

Acts 5:31 NKJV

• N: "God used Gamaliel to help the apostles in releasing them from prison."

• S: "Verse 41 reminds me of John 15:18-19 - there are those who are of this world, and those who are of Jesus - those who oppose and reject Jesus verses those who are for Jesus and who follow Him."

"So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name."

Acts 5:41

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."

John 15:18‭-‬19 

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